A Guardsman in Tristain
by Obssesed Nuker
Summary: Louise expected a grand familiar... and in a twisted kind-of way, a Cadian Shock Trooper can be made to fit that description.
1. Arrival

**A/N:** These are just a bunch of pieces I hocked up while bored and participating in a discussion on Familiar of Zero x-overs. Don't expect much from them. Note that Imperial name structure runs on a 'Last Name Formal', 'First Name Familiar Informal', 'First Name Diminutive Affectionate' style.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own any of this.

A Guardsman in Tristain

_"Did you see that? The corporal! The corporal and that-"_  
><em>"Shut-up and keep firing!"<em>  
><em>"But-"<em>  
><em>"But nothing! If you don't start concentrating on your targets I wi-AUGH!"<em>  
><em>"Sarge! SHIT!"<em>

Even after all the times in the past, the explosion still took Louise by surprise. Blast caused her to stagger and a lungful of dust sent her into a momentary coughing fit. Inside disappointment tore at her... she had failed, again! Why did the Founder curse her like this? Already she could hear her classmates, who had wisely backed away, begin to jeer.

"As expected Ze-" Montmorency's quip died on her lips as a... creature skittered out of the dust cloud. The thing put Louise in mind of a cross between an insect and Kirche's salamander, with the size of the latter, but with an exceedingly large amount of teeth and razor sharp claws.

The creature seemed to be a bit confused, staggering here and there for a moment. It gave a hard shake of its head and took a good look at the assembled students, malevolent slits taking them in before it gave an aggressive screech and reared back, obviously about to strike.

CRACK!

A thin red-yellow beam of light blasted into the side of the creature and blew a large hole in the horror. The thing shrieked and collapsed, twitching a bit before ceasing to movement. All assembled eyes turned to a man standing in the dead center of the explosion, identifiable from the scorched grass.

Clad in some kind of unidentifiable plate armor painted a sort of brokenly dull green, the man lowered the weapon that put them in mind of a musket and glanced around. His face, surprisingly young (Louise thought he was maybe four years older) if it weren't for the small scar on his cheek and the look of experience in his eyes, squinted in confusion...

"What the-Where the warp am I?"

Somehow, Louise managed to find her voice first. "W-who are you?"

The man looked right at her with a frown, reaching up and taking off the bowlish helmet to reveal a buzz-cut of black hair. "Corporal Rigan Saito, 332nd Cadian Regiment of the Imperial Guard. Now, who are _you_?"


	2. Hostage

**Guardsman in Tristain**

"Corporal Rigan Saito, 332nd Cadian Regiment of the Imperial Guard. Now, who are you?"

The Guardsmen in question was actually just as confused as the juvies around him. He obviously wasn't on Gafgar-5 any more, the sky told him that much, but looking around he got the impression he was in some kind of fancy schola school, although the bizzare animals threw him for a loop... pets, perhaps?

The girl who he had answered glanced at the adult (a teacher?) who blinked, looked between the Cadian and her, and finally gave a nod. The girl stepped towards him, holding up the stick in her hand. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; bless this humble being, and make him my familiar."

_'What the-'_Saito thought, now letting his confusion show as the girl (Louis, wasn't it) stood on her toes and... kissed him.

_'WHAT THE-!'_

He shoved her away. "What in the warp are you doing! Do I look like a juviephile to you?"

The girl glared back at him and opened her mouth to say something, but the bald adult interrupted. "Congratulations Miss Vallière, you failed 'Summon Servant' several times but managed to succeed with 'Contract Servant' in one try."

"Alright, you know what, I am getting seriously pissed off here and-Gyah!" Pain and heat shot through Saito's body as he doubled over. On the edge of his vision he saw a glow appear on his left hand.

"Relax." Colbert said quickly, "The Familiar's Runes are being inscribed."

_'Famili-Emperor's Throne! Their psykers!'_Saito thought through the pain. Then another thought kicked in as the pain and heat began to fade: he had fought the followeds of Chaos before and had even participated in hunting down rogue Psykers and that had been different. When a Psyker used its power it felt wrong, and while this hurt his soul didn't feel like it was shriveling into its very core.

Still, better safe than sorry.

The pain died down with the heat and the middle-aged man approached. "That was quick," He remarked. "May I see your hand..."

Saito looked at the man, looked at the runes on his left hand(which were glowing faintly, but otherwise didn't seem to be doing anything else) and asked: "This one?"

The man nodded, drawing near for the inspection... and Saito punched him in the face. Faster than anybody else could react, Saito grabbed the man's hand holding the stick and twisted it just right. The man yelped in surprise and pain, blood dribbling down his broken nose as Saito yanked him in between himself and the younger psykers, placing his lasgun across the shoulder of his new human shield.

"NOBODY FRAKKING MOVE!" He barked.

One of the kids, a female redhead who seemed far too overdeveloped in the chest area began to raise her stick...

CRACK!

The warning shot slammed into the ground right at her feet, plowing up dirt and causing her to leap back. Saito glared at her, "Try anything else and I'll blast you in half."

"What are you doing!" The girl (Louise) yelled at him, "Release Professor Colbert!"

Saito blinked, what? Did the psyker just order him to do that? Maybe he should... his conscious self came down on the heretical thought hard.

"No." He said plainly, "I am going to ask you questions, you are going to answer them."

"Da ah he sahs." The psyker that Saito was using as a shield said, his words slurred by the broken nose, smart man.

The students, and their pets oddly enough, seemed to hesitate, than finally a blonde girl with utterly ridiculous curls finally asked: "What do you want to know?"

"Well, we can start with where I am."

"Your at the Tristain Academy of Magic..." The psyker named Louise replied, reluctance in her voice.

"Okay... now where is that?"

A moments silence... "Well, in the Kingdom of Tristain of course..."

"Of course." Saito said dryly, "I mean where in the Galaxy is that?"

They all looked confused. "Excuse me?"

"What planet and which Segmentum is it in?"

More silence, more confused looks. "What are you talking about?"

Saito wasn't sure who said that, but he still answered. "Okay, great, you have no knowledge about that. Please tell me you know of the Imperium of Man or, at least, the Emperor."

More silence. Dread fell in upon Saito and he didn't notice letting go of his human shield and staggered back in realization, legs suddenly felt weak so he fell into a sit, placing his lasgun which suddenly felt like lead on the ground. "Oh frak."


	3. Discussion

**Guardsman in Tristain**

Time had gone by in a blur after Saito had discovered that he was on a world which had apparently never heard of the Imperium or the God-Emperor. He had barely noticed the middle-age Psyker talking to the others and then them dispersing around him. The Guardsman had been taken from the field he had arrived in and kind of just loosely let himself be dragged back to some kind of fort by the pink-haired Psyker girl, Louise.

Of course, he rapidly learned that it wasn't a fort as the girl dragged him into a ostentatiously furnished room. It wasn't until Louise, with simultaneous difficulty and care, leaned his lasgun against a desk did Saito realize he had almost left the weapon behind. That served more to snap the Corporal out of his daze than anything else.

Louise turned back towards the stranger and asked: "You... what did you say your name was?"

"Corporal Rigan Saito."

"What kind of title is Corporal?" Louise asked.

Saito gave her a look that told her she had just asked a stupid question. "It is not a title, it is a rank."

Louise gave Saito a once-over. "Alright, so Rigan-"

"Saito."

"Eh?" Louise blinked, more surprised that she had been interrupted than anything else.

"I barely know you, so it is impolite to use my first name. If you are going to address me, call me Saito or Corporal... or Corporal Saito."

Louise scowled back at the Guardsman, "Given that you are my Familiar, I can address you however I want!"

The glare that Saito sent at the noblewoman caused her to regret her outburst. For some reason, she was reminded of her older sister Eléonore.

"Now look here." Saito said, his voice low and dangerous, "Up until a few hours ago, I was in the middle of a life-or-death situation, struggling to survive against a horde of Tyranids. Now I find myself on a unknown world, lost amongst heathens who are also psykers to boot, and dragged around by some upstart _brat_. Well let me tell you that I could kill you in twenty-three different ways with just my bare hands, I learned how to load and fire a lasgun before I could walk, and I was trained to be a soldier ever since the age of four. So you better watch your tongue and remember I have not agreed to anything, _witch_."

It was only after he finished letting loose it struck Saito that mouthing off a unsanctioned psyker might be a bad idea but he quickly discounted it, if she tried to kill him than he would try to kill her too and at least clear his conscious heading to the Golden Throne. Of course, he hadn't anticipated Louise's reaction.

Throughout the rant Louise had kind-of shrunken away in fear, but at the last word her eyes widened in simultaneous fear and indignation. "You think I'm a witch?"

Saito opened his mouth to, in essence, reply 'duh' when Louise exploded at him: "HOW DARE YOU! I AM NOT A WITCH! I AM NOT CURSED WITH THE UNNATURAL! I DO NOT CONSORT WITH ANY HELLSPAWN! AND I _DEFINITELY_DON'T CAST ANY BLACK MAGIC! YOU-YOU-YOU-!"

Her tirade sputtered out into a angry incomprehensible, gurgling sound before ceasing completely, Louise glaring heavily at the surprised and shocked young man who was considering the new information that had just been shouted at him. It could be a trick, an attempt to lull him into a false sense of security by denying any connection with the Ruinous Powers. And yet... the vigor she and rage she had put into the accusation had been so genuine, that Saito found himself believing her.

Add in the lack of all the other effects he had universally experienced with psykers, sanctioned and not, the conclusion could only be drawn that she was telling the truth. The very small part of Saito's subconscious that was never going to be satisfied with the conclusion what yelled at him for it, but it had shrunken that he could ignore it. But still, if she wasn't a psyker, what was she?

"Alright... alright. Look, I'm sorry, but I have no experience with... well, if you are not a psyker, what are you?"

"A mage of course." Louise spat out, her voice sour, "A noble."

"Oh." Saito said and then paused, "I have never heard of a mage."

"What." Louise was surprised, never heard of a mage? "Where are you from?"

"I told you out on the field: I am a soldier in the Armies of the Imperial Guard. My regiment, the 332nd Cadian, was drawn from the fortress world of Cadia." Saito straightened to full height like he was on the parade ground at attention, indulging himself in pride of his birthplace, "The Cadian Shock Troops are the finest of all the soldiers in the Imperial Guard."

Louise opened her mouth, than closed it again, then shook her head, walking over to her bed and sitting down. "I think... you are going to need to elaborate. What force is the Imperial Guard? What do you mean by fortress world?"

Saito paused to consider the questions than looked at her.

"Perhaps it is best I tell you about the Imperium of Man? That would be the easiest place to start."

Louise nodded eagerly, only minutes later she would regret that eagerness.

Because Saito told her about the Imperium of Man... and about the galaxy within which it, and she, existed.


	4. Exposition

**Guardsman in Tristain**

It took Saito, roughly, a half-hour to run through his explanation. The Cadian's explanation was no where near encompassing. A large part of this was lack of knowledge... Saito, like most enlisted Imperial Guardsmen, had his attention largely consumed by either the life-or-death struggle for survival in combat or the regular drills and inspections in between battle. But some of it was deliberate: the Emperor was mentioned several times in passing, and though it slipped Louise's notice his voice held the reverence he truly felt for the god. The reason for this was simple: Saito was perfectly willing to die for the Emperor, but he was also perfectly willing to live for Him too and, as far as he could tell, he wasn't being tricked... and if he was, he could just flip to fully-automatic anyways.

But it was still an extended explanation. Saito told Louise about the Imperium of Man, an empire of a million worlds stretching across the galaxy. He told her about the sprawling hive worlds within which as many as hundreds of billions of people lived together in massive, potentially world-spanning city's. He told her about the lesser worlds controlled by the Imperium. He told her about the Adeptus Mechanicus, who maintained the Imperium's technology. He told her about the Starships that sailed across the vast void between stars carrying people and cargo... and weapons. He told her about the Titans, the massive war-machines that were giant engines of death and destruction which vaporized entire armies, assuming they didn't just crush them underfoot. He mentioned the Adeptus Astartes, the super-human Space Marines, a single one of which could do the job of a thousand Imperial Guardsmen. And he told her about the Imperial Guard, billions upon billions upon untold billions of ordinary humans holding the line against the enemies of man.

And he told her what he knew of those enemies: the blood thirsty Orkz, the duplicitous Eldar, the all-devouring Tyranids, and the dark followers of Chaos. When he finished, Louise simply stared at him slack jawed. Saito waited patiently for a full thirty-seconds before asking, "Well?"

Louise closed her mouth, she opened it again, then she repeated the process three more times before she finally stuttered. "That... what... I... you are lying, making this all up."

Saito blinked in surprise before he gave a short laugh. "Really? You think I am lying? You can believe that if you want, but I know what I have seen, what I have lived through, and let me say that every single thing I have said is reality and I probably don't even know a fraction of it... I _don't want_to know more then a fraction of it."

Louise just stared at the Cadian like he was crazy, and she indeed she was entertaining that thought. But the story... it was absurd, yes, but it was too absurd just to be made up. It was so far out of left field that it came right back around and somehow made sense. The noblewoman had never seriously thought about her kingdom's place in the universe, much less her own. But now she was confronted by a man who claimed, with complete and utter conviction, that he was from a different world entirely, and traveled to several others and fought horrifying creatures on them as part of a vast army, and that those worlds were but a drop-in-the-bucket amidst the empire he served. Only the mouth droolingly moronic would not contemplate their place in the universe after such a sincere claim, and Louise found it terrifying.

And headache inducing. "This is all so much to take in..."

Saito gave a sardonic grin, "I suppose growing up knowing all this helps."

"I need some time..." Louise said, and then she wrinkled her nose as she noticed the smell for the first time. "And you need a bath! Have you smelt yourself?"

"For several days now." Saito said, bringing Louise up short in her tirade, "I told you, I had been fighting the Tyranids for the past... half-week, I think. When you are facing a fresh swarm of Emperor-knows-how-many termagaunts nearly-every hour you don't really have time to bathe."

Louise blanched, "How do you find time to sleep?"

"You learn to grab as much shut-eye during the breaks as you can. Same with food and water."

"Well..." Louise paused, "You should go take a bath! And clean your clothes too, I don't want to even imagine what kind of state they are in! And we are going to have to talk later!"

"Yes ma'am." Saito said, walking over and grabbing his lasgun away from the desk, "I should also take inventory while I am at it." _'And pray...'_

"You do that..." Louise sighed, rubbing her temple, "I need time to think."

It was only after Saito left the room did he realize he had addressed Louise as he would a superior (female) officer in the Guard. That was unusual, acting that way for a civilian. Well the situation was unusual... maybe it was because she said she was nobility or something? Bah! Thinking took to much time, he missed the military structure already.

And with that, the lone Cadian set-off to the baths... only to remember some time later that he didn't know where the baths were and thus alter his plan to find someone who did know where the baths were. A pity most of the grounds seemed empty, but it was drawing towards night. Wasn't this place like a schola for mages? Maybe he could find one of the cleaning staff.


End file.
